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We decided to head inland to the Lake Quinault area
for our second day. It was about 34 miles to the lake. The Quinault area
is a rain forest. In December you should expect rain. We were not disappointed.
It rained softly. It rained hard. It never stopped raining. The Moclips
Highway took us to Highway 101 only a few miles from Lake Quinault. A few
miles off of the highway we came to the Willaby Creek Loop Trail. Not surprisingly
we were the only car in the lot. Oh, did I mention it was raining hard?
We were not going to let a little or a lot of rain slow us down. We headed out on the 1.2 mile short loop going clockwise. The big wind storm a few week ago did a lot of damage here. These are big trees and when they go down it is not easy to get over or around them. A short way along we came to a big douglas fir tree with a platform built around it. Very impressive. There are more shades of green in that half mile trail than I could imagine. Very beautiful.
We sloshed along the trail, marveling at the size of some of the downed trees. There will need to be some serious sawing before the trail is completely open once again. We were very surprised to see a long hiker with his dog going in the opposite direction. We also met him again as we finished at the same time. The trail goes several miles one way but we turned off on the return leg of the short loop.
We decided to head down the road to the trailhead for the largest Sitka spruce in the world. The trailhead is right along the road just past the ranger station. A short walk brought us to a bridge and the big spruce was just across it. This monster tree is not in some deep forest It is near the lake and on the edge of a resort property. Quite a surprise. The tree is 58' 11" in circumference. We snapped some photos and walked across the grass to the edge of Lake Quinault. It was still dark, gray, and raining.
Back near the car we met another couple out for a short hike. The rainy weather did not keep everyone inside. I wasn't sure if I had enough gas for the next leg of our journey so I stopped near the Quinault Lodge to gas up. The old building still has a sign for BankAmericard. That has not existed for decades. The gas was $359.9. Expensive but available. We decided to head north to Ruby Beach.
It was another 40+ miles to Ruby. The low tide was sometime around 5:30 pm and we arrived at about 4:00 pm. The trail down to the beach is short. We saw a few other groups at the beach. The tide was out and the sky was already darkening. We headed south down the beach looking for things to photograph. Unlike Moclips, this beach had some sea stacks and rocks. It was more interesting than the southern beaches.
The rain which had been falling most all day suddenly slowed and just about stopped altogether. We stayed on the beach until it was almost dark. We finally made it back to the car at 5:15. Dark but not yet pitch black. Now we just had a 75 mile drive back to the resort. It was one of the most interesting birthdays I have had. Back at Ocean Crest we changed and went to dinner. The dinner at the resort was very good. It was a nice end to a very busy day.
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We were not going to let a little or a lot of rain slow us down. We headed out on the 1.2 mile short loop going clockwise. The big wind storm a few week ago did a lot of damage here. These are big trees and when they go down it is not easy to get over or around them. A short way along we came to a big douglas fir tree with a platform built around it. Very impressive. There are more shades of green in that half mile trail than I could imagine. Very beautiful.
We sloshed along the trail, marveling at the size of some of the downed trees. There will need to be some serious sawing before the trail is completely open once again. We were very surprised to see a long hiker with his dog going in the opposite direction. We also met him again as we finished at the same time. The trail goes several miles one way but we turned off on the return leg of the short loop.
We decided to head down the road to the trailhead for the largest Sitka spruce in the world. The trailhead is right along the road just past the ranger station. A short walk brought us to a bridge and the big spruce was just across it. This monster tree is not in some deep forest It is near the lake and on the edge of a resort property. Quite a surprise. The tree is 58' 11" in circumference. We snapped some photos and walked across the grass to the edge of Lake Quinault. It was still dark, gray, and raining.
Back near the car we met another couple out for a short hike. The rainy weather did not keep everyone inside. I wasn't sure if I had enough gas for the next leg of our journey so I stopped near the Quinault Lodge to gas up. The old building still has a sign for BankAmericard. That has not existed for decades. The gas was $359.9. Expensive but available. We decided to head north to Ruby Beach.
It was another 40+ miles to Ruby. The low tide was sometime around 5:30 pm and we arrived at about 4:00 pm. The trail down to the beach is short. We saw a few other groups at the beach. The tide was out and the sky was already darkening. We headed south down the beach looking for things to photograph. Unlike Moclips, this beach had some sea stacks and rocks. It was more interesting than the southern beaches.
The rain which had been falling most all day suddenly slowed and just about stopped altogether. We stayed on the beach until it was almost dark. We finally made it back to the car at 5:15. Dark but not yet pitch black. Now we just had a 75 mile drive back to the resort. It was one of the most interesting birthdays I have had. Back at Ocean Crest we changed and went to dinner. The dinner at the resort was very good. It was a nice end to a very busy day.
Douglas Fir |
Willaby Creek |
Kim At Work |
Trees Down |
Mossy Tree |
Trail Map |
Clean Up Time |
Bridge |
Big Sitka Spruce |
Stats |
Ferns |
Falls |
Ruby Beach |
Rocky Shore |
Sea Stacks |
Getting Darker |
Rock In Pool |
Another Pool |
Kim On The Move |
Heading Back |
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Ocean Weekend Report
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